November 1, 2008

What I don't like about Halloween . . .

I've read several posts over the last few weeks dealing with the "issue" of Halloween. There are those that equate trick or treating with devil worship. And there are those who see it as a holiday to be celebrated on the same level as Christmas. I agree with those of you who like to stay away from the scary/crude things that are often a part of this day. I also think that it's a fun thing for kids to look forward to and there are so many things for families to do together on this day and leading up to it.

However, I am not without Halloween pet peeves.

First, I cannot believe some of the costumes that teenage (and pre-teen) girls wear. I'm reminded of the scene in Mean Girls where they explain that Halloween is the opportunity for girls to wear lingerie and some sort of animal ears and be able to call it a costume. It's ridiculous. I guess Walmart lets their cashiers wear costumes and the cashier that helped me was dressed so inappropriately. It took everything in me not to make a rude remark about what she was supposed to be dressed up as. Ugh. And the fact that it was so nice out (70 DEGREES! YAY!) last night made it worse because no one had an issue showing skin.

Second, it's so irritating when you see two 19 year old guys running from door to door collecting candy. Seriously? There should be an age limit on these things. We were at Trunk or Treat so we didn't hand out any candy this year, but on my way home I saw several "kids" that were way too old to be trick or treating. Maybe the rule should be that if you're old enough to drive, you're way past the point of being young enough to trick or treat. The real issue here is that if you were to deny these older kids candy, they're old enough to drive back later and toilet paper or egg your house.Ok, now that I have that out of the way . . . Jack and I had fun at his first trick or treat experience! Kyle went to his brother's football game, but Katie was there at Trunk or Treat with us. Jack seemed a little overwhelmed by all of the people at first, but he warmed up and was soon saying "tr-treat" to everyone . . . even people without candy. When people saw him coming, they often searched through their candy to find something that he would be able to eat . . . like tootsie rolls, or suckers. Which really sucks because there is no way on earth he'll be eating any of that candy. I will. So I wanted to object every time they handed him Smarties or Dum Dum suckers in lieu of Baby Ruth bars or Laffy Taffy. Oh well.

6 comments:

I'm with you on your pet peeves of Halloween. I am a not a big fan of trick or treating because I don't think all the candy is necessary and I don't like kids "begging" for candy from people they would normally never talk to. My girls don't like to trick or treat - they are just too shy so we skipped it this year. I don't mind handing out candy - but get so irritated by the kids who just hold out their bags and don't say please or thank you. There are things that I like, too, so we just pick and choose.

19 year old boys, seriously? Wow! I am so glad that my daughter covers her body and treats it with respect. I know what you mean about the lingerie. We just had homecoming and girls were dressed in lingerie. We had to hunt for a dress for my daughter that was appropriate. It was not easy.

What an adorable little man. I love his costume. Last night we had a Halloween dance at school...Yikes! I had to tell one girl she needed to cover up "the girls" or she would have to leave. Not a fun conversation to have. :)

Yes to all of the comments and 19 ... not good. But the flip side of the coin is, as with all teenagers, we think because they "look" like young adults, they are adults when really, their minds are still in limbo land inbetween the world of children and the world of adults. Some days, like Halloween for example, it is more fun to be a child. I have seen 12 year old boys who are growing facial hair already and it takes a few years to grow into those bodies and grow out of childhood traditions.